Today’s Ten Minutes of Hate.
[IsraelTimes] Statement by foreign ministers of the US, UK, La Belle France, Germany and Italia shows extent of their frustration with Netanyahu government| Notably absent from the list of countries condemning Israel were Abraham Accords signatories UAE, Bahrain and Morocco. |
The steps to further entrench Israel’s presence in the West Bank were unanimously approved on Sunday by the cabinet, which framed the measures as a response to a series of terror attacks in Jerusalem.
Most of the foreign ministers’ countries had already condemned the Israeli announcement individually, so Tuesday’s statement appeared to represent an attempt to drive home the extent of their frustration with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hardline government.
The top diplomats said they were "deeply troubled" by the cabinet’s decision and "strongly oppose these unilateral actions which will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Paleostinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution."
While the US has led the international pushback, it has indicated that verbal condemnations will be the extent of its efforts. "Israel, of course, is going to make its own sovereign decisions," State Department front man Ned Price said on Monday.
The plans to further entrench Israel’s presence in the West Bank have also been lambasted by the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
’s foreign policy chief, the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
secretary-general, Norway,
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
, Jordan and Egypt. Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Fifteen of the nineteen WTC hijackers were Saudis, and most major jihadi commanders were Saudis, to include Osama bin Laden. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman quietly folded that tent in 2016, doing terrible things to the guys running it, and has since been dragging the kingdom into the current century..., with which Netanyahu is keen on normalizing relations, called the Israeli plan "a blatantly illegal act."
Paleostinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh blasted Sunday’s announcement as "a recipe for escalation, whose dangerous consequences for the region and the world cannot be avoided, as they threaten the Paleostinians’ [very] existence."
Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir responded dismissively to the joint statement Tuesday, telling "the Americans and Europeans [to] stop worrying."
"This is our mission... Nine [outposts] is nice, but it is not enough. We want many more [legalized]," Ben Gvir said.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich directed his comments to the US condemnation in particular, saying that Israel had "clarified our position to the Americans" and that "disagreements are allowed, even between friends."
On Monday, Israel issued a statement in the name of an anonymous senior diplomatic official who appeared similarly dismissive of the US blowback, saying Jerusalem was not surprised by it.
"We have had differences of opinion on this issue for decades," the statement said, pointing out that the illegal outposts being legalized were not new and that some of them had existed for several decades. "These disagreements did not and will not harm the strong alliance between Israel and the US."
Notably absent from the list of countries condemning Israel were Abraham Accords signatories UAE, Bahrain and Morocco. Since signing normalization agreements with Israel in 2020, the three countries have largely focused their criticism of Israel on matters pertaining to Jerusalem, not the West Bank.
The outposts that Israel plans to legalize are Avigayil, Beit Hogla, Givat Harel, Givat Arnon, Mitzpe Yehuda, Malachei Hashalom, Asahel, Sde Boaz and Shacharit.
To legalize the outposts, the government will have to prove that they were established on what Israel considers to be state land. This will likely be difficult, given that many of them, including almost all of Sde Boaz and Givat Harel, were built on private Paleostinian land.
While the international community considers all settlements illegal, Israel differentiates between settlement homes built and permitted by the Defense Ministry on land owned by the state, and illegal outposts built without necessary permits, often on private Palestinian land. However, outposts are sometimes established with the state’s tacit approval, and successive governments have sought to legalize at least some of the 100-plus unrecognized communities as a result.
Palestinians readying Security Council resolution slamming Israeli settlement plans
[IsraelTimes] Hoping not to have to use its veto, US reportedly urging Ramallah to instead pursue a symbolic joint statement condemning Jerusalem, which it would be willing to support.
